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(02/19/15 4:38pm)
There are some things in this world that need no introduction, and by the same token, there are some films that warrant no review. This past weekend, theaters were graced with such a film: Fifty Shades of Grey, an erotic romance film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.
(02/12/15 5:17pm)
It seems to have become tradition in cinema for certain styles of films to be released at particular times of the year, the most popular of which is the holiday season. While the summer season may be better known for its yearly turnout of large-scale blockbuster extravaganza films, the winter season is littered with films of a different nature. If you think your film is Oscar material, the holiday season is the release date to shoot for.
(02/05/15 5:47pm)
Seth Rogen and James Franco have never particularly been known for their subtlety, particularly when they choose to collaborate. These comedic masterminds have been working together since the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks and have since become known for hit comedies including Pineapple Express and This is the End. Their calling seems to be for irreverent, over-the-top humor in which nothing is sacred. The pair derives laughs from nearly every aspect of life, and it was only a matter of time before someone, somewhere, got offended. For this reason, the December release of The Interview triggered an explosion.
(01/29/15 5:18pm)
It’s no secret that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy has come under fire ever since its announcement, owing primarily to the decision to split the story into three movies. Despite, or perhaps because of, the huge success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000’s, fans were rather skeptical of Jackson’s decision; if he could adapt three books into three movies, then why on earth would a single, shorter book, need to be made into three movies, if not to just make a buck?
(12/04/14 7:33pm)
For the past few years cinemas have been graced by film adaptations of Suzanne Collins’s wildly popular Hunger Games novels. Set within a dystopian Panem civilization, the stories detail the struggles of Katniss Everdeen as she struggles to overcome the titular games wherein young children are systematically rounded up and forced to fight one another to the death. Sporting high-stakes combat, typical love octagons, smatterings of teenage drama and sprinklings of dark political undertones, these films have all the makings of high quality, but typical, young adult films.
(12/04/14 7:33pm)
For the past few years cinemas have been graced by film adaptations of Suzanne Collins’s wildly popular Hunger Games novels. Set within a dystopian Panem civilization, the stories detail the struggles of Katniss Everdeen as she struggles to overcome the titular games wherein young children are systematically rounded up and forced to fight one another to the death. Sporting high-stakes combat, typical love octagons, smatterings of teenage drama and sprinklings of dark political undertones, these films have all the makings of high quality, but typical, young adult films.
(11/20/14 7:37pm)
With another holiday season comes another conveniently released children’s film featuring a lovable mascot character destined to be the most-sold toy of the season. Carefully crafted and tested in focus groups nationwide, this soft, huggable conglomeration of all things marketable is sure to win over children of all ages. The character can almost be guaranteed to reach a solid spot on their Christmas lists (behind maybe iPads, toy cars and video games).
(11/13/14 6:50pm)
In this reviewer’s opinion, one of the greatest tragedies of the last several years is the U.S. government’s virtual abandonment of its space program. De-funding it into oblivion, the government has converted the space shuttle from an instrument of astronomical exploration into a tourist-trapping, eye-catching monument.
(11/06/14 4:59pm)
While Marvel and DC comics grapple endlessly with one another for domination of film’s superhero genre, it’s extremely refreshing when a third-party challenger emerges and swiftly sweeps aside its veteran brethren. Since Marvel churns out movie after movie featuring its cinematic universe, and DC helplessly scrambles to catch up, it’s easy to forget that 20th Century Fox still possesses a franchise or two of its own. However, while perhaps not quite as widely popular as their brothers, these film franchises are truly a force to be reckoned with, as evidenced by the wonderful X-Men: Days of Future Past.
(10/31/14 5:32pm)
This time of year, our cinemas are visited by what can only be described as the paranormal. All at once it seems ghouls and ghosts of the most frightening nature fill the movie theater screens. Horror movies, typically flavor-of-the- month box office bombs, exhibit their ghostly nature by offering us scares we have never seen before while still managing to be utterly transparent. Wispy and insubstantial, they vanish just as quickly as they appeared, but not before inflicting the worst psychological damage of all. No matter how bad the experience of seeing the film was, none of your friends will ever believe you.
(10/23/14 4:03pm)
Designed to be a classic monster film reboot, Dracula Untold tells the story of how Count Dracula came to be viewed as a terrorizing monster of folklore. While ambitious and interesting in theory, the film unfortunately fails to bring anything fresh or interesting to the table.
(10/16/14 4:37pm)
Sometimes, the odd case arises when a film that is beautiful on virtually every level can still somehow fall flat. From the concept to the cinematography, to the acting and to the atmosphere, every piece can function perfectly, yet the overall product somehow fails to be as great as the sum of its parts. This, unfortunately, is the case of Phillip Noyce’s recent adaptation of The Giver.
(10/09/14 3:10pm)
While director Michael Bay may have acquired new intellectual property this summer with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was by no means his only film to be released this year or even just this summer. Greeted with the oddest assortment of cheers, groans, complaints and praise, Transformers: Age of Extinction delivers a fourth installment in Bay’s most successful film franchise to date.
(10/02/14 5:51pm)
As a comic book fan, I occasionally have to wonder at the thought processes behind some writers and directors when they decide to adapt their favorite hand-drawn heroes into live action, big-screen caricatures. Batman and Superman make sense: Both have achieved so much mainstream popularity both in and out of their regular mediums that constantly reinventing them makes perfect sense.
(09/30/14 9:52pm)
Sometimes it becomes very easy to lose sight of what the science fiction genre actually is. This is hardly surprising considering the sheer amount of material the genre contains, featuring everything from ET to Star Wars to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The only real defining characteristic appears, at first glance, to be that all these stories contain two elements: science and fiction.
(09/18/14 4:23pm)
Horrifically mutated and destructive reptiles seem to have been a theme this past summer. Two action films, released only a few months apart, featured these zoological monstrosities. Both Godzilla and the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles release came packed with fires, explosions and cold-blooded harbingers of gleeful destruction. While one of these films captured the essence of a nostalgic franchise, reinterpreted it and presented it in a manner both fresh and faithful to the source material, the other was directed by Michael Bay.
(09/11/14 9:10pm)
Often when I’m sitting in a theater watching the credits roll and listening to the custodians badgering me to leave so they can clean up before the next show, I sit back and wonder to myself whether the film I just saw really needed to be made. The answer to this question usually plays a large role when I attempt to judge the film’s quality. After all, if a film does not bring anything new to the table, it becomes very difficult to recommend it over one that does. No matter the film’s quality or budget, there is little reason to watch it.
(09/04/14 8:07pm)
It’s no big secret that the advent of atomic energy shook the world to its foundations. Equally lauded and feared, its nearly limitless potential has been the subject of experiments, advancements and inventions.
(05/02/14 6:06pm)
Every so often, a movie comes around that tries its very hardest to capture the “feel” of a certain decade, whatever that may mean. More often than not, it means that the film will assemble a laundry list of things which made that decade significant, roll it all together, cook it into some strange hodgepodge pie and serve it to the audiences. Luhrmann’s 2013 rendition of The Great Gatsby attempted something like this with the 1920s, gathering all the set pieces of that decade of decadence and spinning them with some odd visual flair. It had the cars, the clothes, the buildings, the people —everything except the jazzy music. That movie, unfortunately, was met with a rather lukewarm reception, befitting a rather lukewarm movie. So what makes American Hustle, which attempts the same thing with the 1970s, more successful? Is it the music? Possibly. But I would argue that its success goes a bit deeper than that.
(04/24/14 10:12pm)
Let's talk about young adult (hereafter YA) films.